Upper Darby father accused of beating 6-week-old infant

UPPER DARBY -- The father of a newborn baby boy is wanted for allegedly beating the helpless infant while the mother was at work, police said.

An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Damon Gary, 36, of the first block of South Keystone Avenue, Upper Darby, for the assaults that caused bruising and bleeding on the baby's brain, police said.

"He was baby-sitting in mid-December on the first day the mother went back to work after having the baby," police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. "When she came home, her son was in a rocking seat and she noticed his lips were swollen, his left eye was bloody and had bruises on his left cheek. She took him to the doctor and was sent to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We received the call Dec. 14 from the hospital.

"(Criminal Investigator) Dustin Clark was assigned and has been working on the case since the call came in. It looks like the child was beaten. At any age it's horrible to beat a child, but at 6 weeks old it's heinous. When the mother left for work the baby was OK. The doctors determined the baby had old and new blood on the brain and the new blood was from trauma."

"The infant had several superficial abrasions on his left cheek, swollen and purple hematomas on his lips and three finger-shaped contusions on his left shoulder," Clark wrote in the affidavit, citing the additional hemorrhage of the left eye and a right frontal hematoma on the brain.

"The medical records play a major role in this case," Chitwood said. "The medical evidence means the baby was physically beaten and subject to abuse on more than one occasion. The baby has been discharged from the hospital and Delco's Children and Youth are involved in the investigation."

Gary told the baby's mother he didn't know what happened, according to police.

"He later told her that he rolled over on the baby while they were asleep in bed," Chitwood said.

Gary has been asked to come to the police station voluntarily, but has not complied.

He is wanted on charges of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person and felony charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children.

"Right now, we just want to get this guy off the street," Chitwood said. "He's on the run."